Flowmeter for oxygen tanks



R. C. WEBSTER FLOWME'I'ER FOR OXYGEN TANKS Filed Aug. 15, 1949 4 2 IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNE )4 W s M 6 m w W n May 12, 1953 Patented May 12, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FLOWMETER FOR OXYGEN TANKS Raymond C. Webster, Kansas City, Mo., assignor to W. E. Anderson, 1110., Kansas City, Mo.

Application August 15, 1949, Serial No. 110,270

3 Claims.

This invention relates to an instrument particularly adaptable for use in hospitals to determine with accuracy and without computation gen administered to a patient and having a rotatable propeller within the path of flow of oxygen, mounted to eliminate friction almost entirely and to receive the full force of the oxygen as the same passes through a specially formed housing.

Another important object of the invention is the provision of a fiowmeter for oxygen tanks and the like having a housing provided with an inlet and outlet opening and passageways theree Within, for controlling the flow of oxygen and causing the same to impinge upon the rotatable propeller evenly and in a balanced manner.

Other objects of the present invention include the way in which the propeller and its shaft are floatingly mounted and held suspended by the flow of oxygen itself; the way in which the amount of oxygen acting upon the propeller is controlled; the manner in which a by-pass is provided that in turn has control means whereby the meter may be compared with and set according to a suitable standard in an accurate manner; and other more minor objects, all of which will be made clear or become apparent as the following specification progresses.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a flowmeter for oxygentanks made in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken on line III-III of Figure 2.

Fig. 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken on line V-V of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a substantially central, vertical crosssectional view through the flowmeter assuming the inlet and the outlet openings to be diametrically opposed and in a central plane therethrough; and

Fig. 7 is a substantially circular, vertical, cross-- sectional view taken at right angles to" the view shown in Fig. 6.

There is today an increasing. demand by the medical profession generally, "for an instrument adapted to be used with oxygen tanks and the like and capable of determining accuratelytlile. amount of oxygen that is administered to a particular patient.

As' it well known, such oxygen is given to patient in varying quantities under differing pe riods of time and intermittently. A given tang of oxygen may be used for many patients and several patients are oftentimes administered oxygen simultaneously from one or more tanks. Under present practices in hospitals and the like, there is virtually no way of determining pre-' cisely the amount of oxygen consumed by a particular patient. In instances Where the amount used can be determined, considerable attention is needed, complicated book-keeping systems are used and valuable time and energ is expended by the doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians ing accurate, resulting in dissatisfaction among r patients generally.

As will hereinafter appear, the flowmeter here of will eliminate all of the above problems and render it possible to charge patients in precise accordance with the amount of oxygen actually 7 Housing H] is shown to be polygonal in cross 1 section but obviously may take any shape that may be desired. A bottom l2, and top H, are substantially identical and formed into flat,

plate-like members. A centermost plate l6, also of much the same character as walls 12 and I1 forms a partition betweenwalls l2 and I4. A block 18 is interposed between the wall l2 and partition i6 and a ringlike member 20 is disposed between the partition [6 and the top wall 14 of housing Ill.

The various sections I2, l8, I6, 20 and'l tare therefore relatively superimposed and held together through the medium of a pluralit of elongated bolts 22, each having a nut 24 thereonfor maintaining the aforesaid sections of housing IE3, releasably clamped together. It is understood that suitable gaskets may be interposed between the sections if desired, but if such sections are accurately formed, a fluidtight seal --It--is obvious thathand88-may indicate may be made without the use of such gasket elements. The block section It is provided with an internally-tapped inlet opening or passageway 26, and a similar outlet passage 28 in opposed relationship to inlet 26 and offset with respect thereto as is clear in Figs. 1 to inclusive.

The conduit 30 threaded into inlet opening 26 couples withan o y en tank orother fluid supply (not shown) and'a conduit 32 threaded into outlet opening 23 is connected with the means for directing oxygen to a patient (not shown) and which may take the form of conventional devices of this character presently used -Block w has Reset means within the case 86, for the pointer hands 86 and 88, is actuated manually by a rotatable knob 90.

In operation, the flowmeter is interposed within the line of oxygen, or other fluids, passing from a supply thereof to a patient. The oxygen entering conduit 36 and inlet 26 will pass through port 36 into the collector cavity 3 and thence into the chamber by way of opening 3 85 Such oxygen will impinge upon and cause rotation of propeller 68 and its shaft 60, The oxygen finds annular cavity 34 that is open atits tophandthat,

communicates directly with the inlet passageway by a vertical port 36. r

The partition section I6 has a pair ofdiametrically opposed vertical openings 38, that., place the annular cavity 34 into direct communication with a hollow chamber above partition l6 and defined byring section "20. 2 v v ;.A'I3he lowermost face of the top wall I, has-an annularopen' bottom cavity 42 that extends into overlapping relationship'to the chamber 40' and therefore communicates directly therewith. -Annul ar. cavity 42 also communicates with-a plurality of vertical passageways gtformed in the housing sections .H! and i6 'l'espectively, Passageways 14in turn communicate with an annular cavity '45; that is open at its'top and formed iir'block section 18, concentric with annular 'cavity M. Cavity 46 registers'directly with the outlet openingZB by a' short port 48. The bottom section I! .of housing fill is provided withan open top annular cavity 50 .that' registers with the openings 2Iand28 by passages 52 and 54 respectively. The bottom section l2 also has an internally taped openingfili that registers 'withthe passage and receives a manuallyoperable needle valve fitfgthat extendsinto'pas'sage'fl. An elongated shaft 60, extends into the housing- IB and is rctatably mounted 'withina bearing 62 mounted-in tonwall 14; The innermost; end of the shaft 69 is tapered and passes through; an -opening -64 formed in the housing sectionslsand [8, The

lowermost end of, the opening, 64 mounts a;bearing'fii for the relatively small inner end of shaft Apropeller. broadly designated by the numeral 68;.is mounted on the'shaft tflanddispcsed within the, chamber M 'IF-he propeller58i-has a hub 10, thatds rigidly mounted on shaft 66 and a plurality of arcuate twisted radial vanes or blades The b0lts,22;1also servetomount'an indicating assemblyldgtojthe housing ill, base '16 of assembly '14 being half ,way from the top wall M of housing 16' byspacers 18, L V "Assembly 14, also includes a case-80, having a;dial 182 thereon,-thatis graduated with suitable indicia 84., Pointer hands 86 and ,88, not unlike those, ofan ordinary watch orclock sweep across the dial 82, When the flow meter is'placedin-use, hands 86 and 88 are operably connected with the shaft 60 through a train of'reduction gearing, but since such gearing may well take the conventional --formincluding, if desired; certaininternal 'mechanismswof -watches and clocks, the same has-not been-shown;

-. given units-ot-the fluid passing through housing H1 and that hand 86wmay indicates-fractionsrthereoi in any --manner desireds -l Furthermoret the-.diab 82 maybe graduatedin a manner differing from that illustrated in Fig. 1.

duittz Propeller 68 is easily synchronized with the assembly 14 by means of the needle valve 58.

Unless valve 58aiscompletely closed, a certain amount oi the oxygen entering conduit 30 will pass through a port 52 ,into collector cavity 50 and thence escape into outlet 28 by way of port Obviously, the amount of oxygen that-maybypass -propeller 68- in this manner -;depends upon the extent of opening of thevalve- 58. v

t is, therefore, simple-to check-the fiowrnet'er with a suitable standard and to positively regulate the same to indicate the exactamount or oxygen by means of hands 86 and 88 that is used while the meter is in operation,

The shaft so is reciprocab'ly mounted on the bearing 62 and the opening 64. It is understood that'an elongated gear on that end of the shaft Bliwithin case 80 will permit reciprocation. Accordingly, as the oxygen enterschamber 40 it will eiiectively reduce the weight of the propeller assembly onthe bearing 86. i l ,j

The only friction present during normal opera tion is within bearing 62 and accordingly the accuracy of propeller 6B inconnection with the assembly H is greatly enhanced. 4 v

- flhrough use of the flowmetr, formingthe subject matter hereof, it isa simple 'rnattntpr n rs r un r ned. w r. to ed thesi 82 after each periodof, use thereofto determine e x rtame ntiqt o n t t s n A re or uch l isdr iqd- N0.- i ur sq n ls is necessary andthe dial 82 is easily read wherepon. the readin sreqi. mares made'p ta in the case history of the particular patienti'i'sing haoxvs n r9t r: i ,Ma lvts h d ta lspt c nfi ru io as. a capa le s c an e .o tmsdi q t n are cq t p ated by .i r en i i v nd t i ther fr fi siredto belimited only by the; spirit th reof as d fined. t p w i he ap l i a ta -armsi stdsssii s th inven iqn what. is claimed as new and desiredto be securedby Let- 53 3 3- "I21 1 :1 na ifl w et re a.blo krmz d diw fii inlet passageway, an opposed outlet passageway, a first arn ular;;c2 tvity in l the uppermost f ace t ere p rt c e tinsihe fir t av t wi the inlet passageway, a second annular c avity in saidface surround-ins h rst a-vi yr an ab connecting the second cavity with the, outlet; passageway; a contemplate overlying, the block and having a number of vertical, openings ,therethrou h-communicati g with the fi s ica itre a ring-like member overlyingthe center platg; and prcsentinsa p peller chamb r; ait np atcove lying the member,- and having a third annular cavity communicating with the chamber, said center plate and saidimember hayingia plurality ofwventical. passages,iinterconnecting the second cavity and the third cavity, said block. said memher and said plates being interconnected, p1'e senting a unitary housing; and a propeller rotatably mounted in said chamber directly above said openings within the path of travel of pressurized fluid emanating from the latter, said passages surrounding the axis of rotation of the propeller in concentric relationship thereto.

2. In a flcwmeter as set forth in claim 1 wherein is provided a vertical hole in the block and the center plate; a first bearing in said hole; a second bearing in said top plate; and a vertical shaft secured to the propeller and extending into the hole, said shaft having a pointed lowermost end adapted to rest on the first bearing and extending through the second bearing for vertical move ment therein as the propeller is raised by the force of said fluid to move said pointed end off the first bearing.

3. In a fiowmeter as set forth in claim 1 wherein is provided propeller-ca1ibrating means including a bottom plate underlying the block and secured thereto, said bottom plate having a 6 fourth annular cavity, said block having a vertical passage connecting the inlet passageway and the outlet passageway respectively with said fourth cavity; and a needle valve carried by the bottom plate and extending into the fourth cavity and into one of said vertical passages in the block.

RAYMOND C. WEBSTER. 

